Cohen & Steers Inc. Has $1.57 Billion Holdings in Essex Property Trust, Inc. $ESS

Cohen & Steers Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,999,830 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 465,686 shares during the quarter. Essex Property Trust accounts for 2.8% of Cohen & Steers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Cohen & Steers Inc. owned 0.09% of Essex Property Trust worth $1,570,113,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth $1,664,000. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in Essex Property Trust in the first quarter worth $223,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 70.1% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 279 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 186.2% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 33,614 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,526,000 after purchasing an additional 21,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its position in Essex Property Trust by 10.9% in the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 8,274 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,345,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ESS. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $274.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $279.00 to $281.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $262.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings raised Essex Property Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised Essex Property Trust from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $275.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Essex Property Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $288.44.

Essex Property Trust Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE ESS opened at $283.40 on Friday. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $238.46 and a one year high of $294.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $266.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.21 billion, a PE ratio of 31.84, a P/E/G ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.72.

Essex Property Trust (NYSE:ESS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by ($2.31). Essex Property Trust had a net margin of 30.03% and a return on equity of 10.00%. The firm had revenue of $484.76 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $479.89 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.97 EPS. Essex Property Trust has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 3.920-4.040 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Essex Property Trust, Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current year.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $2.59 per share. This represents a $10.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Essex Property Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 116.40%.

Insider Activity at Essex Property Trust

In other news, Director Mary Kasaris sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.45, for a total transaction of $167,670.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $669,003.30. This represents a 20.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 3.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Essex Property Trust Profile

Essex Property Trust, Inc (NYSE: ESS) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires, develops, owns and operates multifamily residential properties. The company focuses on market-rate apartment communities and delivers a full suite of property services including leasing, resident services, asset management, and capital improvement programs designed to preserve and enhance long?term property values.

Essex concentrates its portfolio in West Coast markets, with a significant presence in California and the Pacific Northwest.